Trump denies ordering limits on Ukraine's SpaceX Starshield service
President Donald Trump denied Friday that he ordered this week's limits on Starshield, the SpaceX satellite service used by Ukraine's army, CNBC and the BBC reported. Reuters, citing three officials, reported that the order came from inside the White House. Ukraine says the limits hurt its missions.
President Donald Trump said Friday that he did not order this week's limits on Starshield, the military version of SpaceX's Starlink satellite service used by Ukraine's armed forces, CNBC and the BBC reported. "Well, I don't know if it was anybody because it wasn't me, and I don't think it was Elon," Trump said when reporters asked who was responsible, according to CNBC. "And from what I understand, it's the same as it's always been." Asked about Starshield, he said he was "not sure" it "ever came down," the BBC reported.
Reuters reported that the order to limit the service came from inside the White House, according to two U.S. officials and a Western official briefed on the matter. The officials said leaders at the Defense Department got a message that the Starshield service for Ukraine's military needed to be slowed, Reuters reported. They did not say who in the White House made the decision. "No such request was ever made by the president," a senior U.S. official said, according to Reuters. The White House did not answer questions about whether other officials might have made the request, Reuters reported.
SpaceX chief Elon Musk wrote on X that "Starshield systems are owned and controlled by the US government," CNBC reported. Musk said any limits on speed or usage are decided by the U.S. military or the president, Reuters reported. Musk and SpaceX did not immediately respond to requests for comment, CNBC reported.
The limits cut the connection for drones and other vehicles moving faster than 160 kilometers (about 100 miles) per hour, CNBC reported. "Our armed forces did not receive a warning about these restrictions, and this led to the failure of a number of missions," Serhii Beskrestnov, an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote on Telegram, according to CNBC. A senior Ukrainian official said Kyiv had been informed it was a White House decision, Reuters reported.
The limits came as Trump has pressed Kyiv to stop attacking Russian refineries, Reuters reported. A bipartisan group of U.S. senators has signed a letter calling for an investigation into the disruptions, the BBC reported.
What we know: Trump denies ordering the Starshield limits, while officials cited by Reuters say the order came from inside the White House.
What we don't: Who gave the order, and when Ukraine's full service will return.
Where outlets agree CNBC and the BBC both report that Trump denied ordering this week's Starshield limits for Ukraine's military.
Where they differ CNBC and the BBC report Trump's denial that he ordered the limits, while Reuters, citing three officials, reported that the order came from inside the White House.